Web Worker Daily

Editor’s note: With this post we welcome Nancy Nally to the WebWorkerDaily team.  Nancy is the owner of Balalaberry Media and is the editor of its online scrapbook industry trade journal Scrapbook Update, which she founded in 2004, along with working on other writing projects. She shares her home in Palm Coast, Fla., with her geek husband and young geek daughter, who has autism.

I may not be able to make a phone call on my iPhone from 30,000 feet (yet), but I’ve still found that when I’m out of my office and have to fly, having an iPhone in my pocket is a powerful sanity-saving tool. Here are the apps that help keep my air travel running smoothly.

Plan.Pack.Go: Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush

Flying means packing. Even if you have a standard “kit” you travel with, it’s still easy in the rush to get out the door to forget your toothbrush, or charging cable. The list templates in this app let you create and save your standard list, edit it if needed for a specific trip, and then check off items as you pack them. Unlike many packing apps, this one includes list items for standard pre-travel tasks, like charging batteries. A sideways shake switches between your unpacked and packed list items, and the categories are well-organized. I’ve tried several packing apps, and this is by far the most slick in design. Designed by Tangent software, and available from the App Store for $1.99. Read the rest of this entry »

It can be hard to set up an ergonomic working environment when you’re on the road, which can lead to poor posture and back pain. A good way to improve posture is to work standing up. (It can also aid concentration, too.) However, while traveling it can be hard to find a convenient surface to put your laptop at the right height to make a standing desk.

A simple and quick way to make a makeshift standing desk on the road is to lift the chair up onto the desk, and then set your laptop on the chair. This usually puts my laptop at a comfortable working height, but you can adjust it by placing books underneath your computer. (If you’re in a hotel room, it will probably have a thick phone book that’s great for this job.) It’s not a particularly attractive solution, but it works pretty much anywhere, and it’s quick to take down when you’re ready to leave. Read the rest of this entry »